150 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



roots, fruits, or seeds, there are a few purely chemical perfumes, 

 such as nitrobenzol, attar of mirbane (or false almond), vanillin 

 (or methyl-protocatechnic aldehyde), coumarin (or coumaric 

 anhydride), and a few others, such as " hemerocalle," "bro- 

 melia," "aubepin," &c, not as yet much used or sold. 

 Tielman and Hermann, in Germany, first made " vanillin " from 

 pine-tree sawdust ; and Dr. C. E. Alder Wright afterwards made 

 it from crude opium. The chemical " vanillin " is forty times 

 stronger than the natural product, and is worth about 23s. per 

 oz. Coumarin (Tonquin-bean odour) is also now made chemi- 

 cally, and costs about 9s. per oz. 



Market Value of Sweet Foliage. 



To come to trade matters, I believe a good business could be 

 done in hardy, fragrant, and durable foliage as opposed to 

 flowers. I am told that there is always a good, demand for all 

 kinds of sweet pot herbs in our great city markets, either fresh 

 or as dried ; and I can well believe the statement that the supply 

 of good foliage or greenery falls short of the demand, although 

 there are generally plenty of flowers. The cook, the doctor and 

 druggist, and the makers of wines, liqueurs, and cordials, and 

 floral decorators owe much, and might owe much more, to fragrant 

 foliage and to agreeably flavoured herbs. In Elizabeth's days 

 the "herb woman" was a necessary addition to the servants of 

 the fine old country houses, and there is some reminiscence of 

 her and her duties lingering around the English Court to-day. 



I believe all pleasant odours are harmless, and very often 

 they are actually beneficial. On the other hand, whilst many 

 disagreeable odours may be harmless, but few of them do us any 

 good, and some of them carry the germs of dire disease, and 

 often prove a scourge to the human race. Beau Brummell used 

 to insist that no man of fashion in his day should use perfumes, 

 but that he should send his linen to be washed and dried on 

 Hampstead Heath. 



Flower or Scent Farms. 

 There are scent-producing flower farms in several of our 

 British colonies, in South Africa, in Australia, and Colonel 

 Talbot has obtained some success in Jamaica. The finest 

 Peppermint, Lavender, and Thyme, &c. has for many years 

 been grown at Mitcham, in Surrey, and there is plenty of land 



